Team Sky's Chris Froome was edged out in the final sprint as Katusha's Joaquim Rodríguez extended his lead in the Vuelta a España to 10 seconds with victory on stage six.

Froome broke for the line in the final 400 metres of the 175.4km stage from Tarazona to Jaca, but Rodriguez was on his wheel and overtook him on the run-in.

Rodríguez said he was not surprised at Froome's impressive performance. "Froome was arguably the strongest rider in the Tour and it's clear he's come here with the idea of winning," he said. "For a rider who supposedly wasn't going to be at his best on a climb as steep as this, he's done it very well."

As for his own chances, the 33-year-old said: "I'm doing very well, I feel strong and I've got a very similar team to the one I had in the Giro, which is very important, we know how to work well together."

The Spaniard won the stage by five seconds from his British rival, with Alejandro Valverde third and Alberto Contador next home to strengthen his hold on third place in the general classification.

The latter trails 26 seconds behind Froome overall, with Rigoberto Uran a further six seconds back in fourth and Robert Gesink completing the top five ahead of Valverde on the same time.

John Degenkolb, of Team Argos-Shimano, holds the sprinter's green jersey ahead of Rodríguez, Valverde and Froome, with Valverde second to Simon Clarke in the climber's standings.

"It was a perfect day for us," said the Team Sky sports director, Nicolas Portal. "The team were fantastic today and everyone played their part. Before the last climb with 25km to go we knew we had to be there at the top. It was a fight to be in a good position before we entered Jaca.

"Then on the climb the Colombians were amazing. Sergio [Henao] did a really long turn and when he pulled over Rigo took some big pulls. When it was time to go Froomey took over.

"It's been a tough first week but we are in a really good position and I'm really happy with how the team have performed."